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2025-11-11
The GBE UK National Points Championship Shootout is headed to Hednesford Hills Raceway for the penultimate round in the 'race for Silver' 2025. The meeting, sponsored by American Racer, had a huge crowd in attendance; it was a must-do event.
The top of the table points were tight, defending champion 1 Tom Harris leading 2nd placed 217 Lee Fairhurst by just 10. Looming large in 3rd, the never-to-be-discounted 515 Frankie Wainman Jnr, an insubstantial 34 points adrift. All still very much to play for.
A glorious Autumn afternoon, 30 cars in the pits...an all-in format chosen. Hednesford is a big track and needs the numbers out there, a few more and 2/3rds would have been an option. As it was, this in effect gave us 'four finals', and the prospect of all six Shootout contenders competing against each other in every race. If outscoring Tom was on the agenda, it was clearly being gifted to the drivers concerned.
Before the racing got underway, we had our Shootout Junior Grid draw at the still impressive Shootout Hub. Twelve children had submitted an entry for this round, but we could only have one winner.
That being the case, we presented the runners-up with sweets, and they had their picture taken with the Shootout drivers after the draw had concluded. One of the brilliant things about F1 Stock Car Racing is just how accessible it is for the fans. Getting up close and chatting to your hero(s) is priceless, and hopefully, with initiatives like the Shootout draw, we make 'fans for life'.
On to the racing, and in Heat 1, 515 Frankie Wainman Jnr made his intentions clear - he wasn't going to make it easy for defending champion 1 Tom Harris. Lap after lap, the duo traded places, nothing over the top, just 'total stock car racing'. Frankie had the pace, but got caught up and lost ground, ultimately finishing outside the top 12. 217 Lee Fairhurst had been tracking Tom, but couldn't get close to the rear bumper of the gold car.
Tom finished 6th, Lee 10th. It was a disappointing start for 368 Callum Thornton. Probably the fastest on Tar this year, Hednesford is ready-made for the youngster to make moves from his 6th-place points position. Callum finished well down the order, 212 Danny Wainman and 526 Finn Sargent also outside of points scoring positions.
Heat 2 and possibly a Shootout defining moment. With three laps to go, a caution was called. Frankie was in 6th, Tom 7th and Lee 10th. On the immediate restart, Lee found himself at the front of a huge push, which ended with a big impact into the turn 3 fence. Lee stopped...and didn't move.
Significant damage to the 217 machine, front axle, front bumper, outside nerf, just some of the more visible issues the team had to deal with back in the pits.
Two laps later, another caution, which would mean a 1-lap dash to the chequered flag. Race order as cars took the Green, 96 Tom Holcroft in P1, Callum 2nd, Tom 3rd and Frankie 4th. As the cars thundered down the home straight, Callum launched a big hit on 96, Tom Harris went underneath as 96 and 368 clattered the fence.
Callum recovered and fought with FWJ over the same piece of track going down the back straight. This prevented Frankie from getting close enough for a last bender on Tom. Tom took the win, Frankie 2nd and Callum in 4th. Better news for Danny and Finn, who scored in this one.
Meeting Final time, and the headline was clear. Frankie and Lee needed to score really well, and Tom not, if the points gap at the top of the chart was to remain manageable. It was clear from the off that all was not well with the Fairhurst machine. Lee and team had put the car back together, but something was amiss. Lee, in fact was lapped by the race leaders as the race drew to its conclusion.
Frankie was racing well with Tom, but in an incident similar to the one detailed, which impeded Lee, Frankie found himself on the front of a train, impacting hard into turns one and two. Who was the culprit? Well, no one seemed to know, Mat Newson was behind, but he went in too. Danny Wainman? Frankie Wainman JJ? Certainly a question for BSCDA TV's intrepid reporter!
Frankie did keep going, but had a disappointing finish of 9th for the Silsden Superstar. Tom, well, he escaped any drama and made a podium P2. Callum T came home 7th, Danny W a place behind brother Frankie. Finn Sargent joined Lee with a DNF.
So who delivered the big hit that put Frankie in? Investigations proved inconclusive. Video evidence is clearly required on this one.
On to The Grand National. Under lights, this was just a wonderful sight. Whatever the issues with the 217 car, these were resolved, but still Lee was not on the same pace as rivals Tom and Frank; 9th was all he could muster. Frankie finally got the upper hand, finishing one place ahead of Tom in 4th.
Where did that leave the Shootout? Tom scored 45 points, Lee scored only 8. Considering the gap was only 10 between the two at the start of the day, Tom's lead at the top of the chart clearly extended.
Frankie had a decent day, scoring 24, as did Callum Thornton, moving him from 6th to 4th in the points. Just single digits for Finn and Danny, certainly not the meeting they were hoping for.
With the final round of the GBE UK National Points Championship Shootout approaching this weekend at Odsal Stadium, Bradford, Tom has a 47-point advantage over Lee, who in turn is 6 points in front of Frankie. It would take an absolute disaster for Tom not to take the Silver on Saturday...
However, this is BriSCA F1 Stock Car Racing, and as we know, anything can and could happen! We also have to remember there is big money on positions two to six, plus the pride of the drivers finishing in as high a position as possible. Nobody wants to finish last! In short, there is a huge amount to race for this Saturday, start time 5 pm.
You can keep up to date with the points situation throughout the course of the meeting via our dedicated BSCDA Shootout Website. And if you haven't seen it already, head over to our YouTube channel to catch up with Round 11 to get you in the mood for Shootout Saturday.
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